Rope-driving machinery



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet I. W. H. ROBINSON.

ROPE DRIVING MACHINERY. No. 508,684. I Patented Aug. 22, 1893.

' Mn fay (No Model. 4 Sh'egts-Shet 2.

E. ROBINSON. ROPE DRIYING'MACHINBRY.

No. 503, 684. Patented A'ugt22,1 893 eeeeeee 4 Sheets-Sheet s. W. H.ROBINSON. ROPE DR IIIIIIIIIII ERY.

No. 503,684. PatentedAug.22,1893

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets- Sheet 4.

w. H. ROBINSON.

ROPE DRIVING MACHINERY. I -No. 503,684. Patented Aug. 22, 1893. Q

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROPE-DRIVING MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,684, dated August22, 1893.

Application filed May 11,1893. Serial No. 473,353- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rope-Driving Machinery; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make and use thesame.

In the construction and equipment of cable railways it is customary, atthe power station, to secure the adhesion necessary to impart motion tothe cable by causing it to take a number of turns around two drums oneof which is fixed to the power shaft and the other of which is an idler,both being provided with a number of peripheral grooves corresponding tothe cable turns upon them. From these drums, the cable passes around aone-grooved sheave supported upon a tension car whose function is totake up slack in the cable and keep it in condition to respond at alltimes to the calls made upon it. The tension car is mounted upon atrackway called the tensionrun and exerts a constant tension upon thecable, moving backward or forward along the trackway so as toautomatically take up and compensate forthe varying amount of slack.Where the cable is of great length the tension run is proportionatelylong to correspond with the demands put upon it.

One of the objects of my invention is to dispense entirely with thislengthy trackway and the sheave-carrying tension car mounted upon itthereby saving the building space required for its accommodation. Tothis end, I convert the idler drum hereinbefore referred to, into atension device by mounting the idler drum bearings-in suitable slides orguide ways and providing means for causing the said idler drum itself toexert the necessary slack takeup tension upon the cable. By thisexpedient, a small movement of the idler drum will be effective to takeup a considerable amount of slack, the differential relationship of thetwo drums causing the idler drum movement to be multiplied in proportionto the number of turns of cable passing over the two drums. The idlerdrum may be arranged to move horizontally if desired, but I prefer tosuspend sesses of moving relatively to the others.

it to move vertically immediately below the driving drum, in order thatits weight may be utilized to keep the cable taut, and in order toeffect a still greater saving in ground space, as all the necessarymovement can take place in a pit arranged below the driving drum. Toobviate any undue strain upon the cable, I may in part counterbalancethe weight of the idler drum as will hereinafter more fully appear. Ifurthermore construct the idler of a series of grooved sheaves mountedside by side upon the same shaft, one of them being keyed thereto inorder to carry it around at the speed of the driving drum, but theremaining ones having a capacity of circumferential movement withrespect to the shaft and to each other. I thus reduce the wear and tearupon the cable to a very small amount, any slipping of the cable withinthe grooves due to uneven wear of said grooves, being in great measureprevented by the capacity each sheave plosn.- stead of the cableslipping within any particular groove, therefore, the tendency is forthe corresponding sheave to shift its position circumferentially withrespect to the others. The life of the cable is consequently materiallyprolonged the tension upon each turn of the cable upon the drum beingequalized, and, in addition thereto, torsional strain upon the idlerdrum shaft is practically eliminated. In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a driving drum, idler wheel andtheir accessories, arranged and constructed in accordance with one formof my invention. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation thereof, partly insection, and on a somewhat larger scale. Fig. 3 represents a partialview of my improved idler drum, also in section. Fig. 4 represents, inside elevation, another arrangement embodying myinvention; and Fig. 5represents a plan view of the same partly in section.

Similar numerals of referenceindicate simi lar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings, 6 indicates the usual solid grooved drivingpulley fixed to its shaft and driven in any suitable manner from thesource of power, as will be readily understood. In the form oftheinvention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the solid grooved pulley 6 issupported upon a frame provided with vertical guides 7, and within-these guides "are adapted to reciprocate the bearihgs ofa 'ro tatoryshaft 9,. The shaft 9 forms the axis of rotation of the idle wheel,which is made up of a grooved sheave 10, keyed to the shaft by thesplinebr feather 11, and of additional grooved sheaves not'fixed to theshaft butcapable of independent movement with'respect to each other soas to be capable of shifting independently of each other and of theshaft, while still preservingaworking fit at their, bearing surfaces.The hubs of thesheaves' are connected to their rims In'eferablyv by.spokes, as shown, and in order'to increase the bearing surface of thehubs of the intermediate sheavt's, two of said hubs are mounted upon theother two. Thus, as shown in the drawings, the hubs 12, 13, of the twoinner-- most sheaves 14, 1 5, are'extended laterally to form bearingsfor the hubs 16, 17 of the adjacentsheaves 18,19. By this expedientQthe,

hubs of all of the intermediate sheaves have;

a greater bearing surface than if they were allm'ounted sideby side uponthe shaft 9 and the strain upon said shaft when the sheaves shift ismore evenly distributed upon it. The; outer sheaves 10, 20, havelaterally extending" hubs; and are'braced against side strains by} ribs21 fromthe hubs to the spokes. The sheaves 10, 12, 13,18, 19 and 20arethus as-; sembled upon-the shaft 9 to form anidlepul-L leyj conformingin general structure to the solid grooved pulley, and having itsgrooves; in the same plane with the corresponding, grooves of said solidpulley. Spacing rings 22 are mounted upon the shaft 9 beyond the? hubsof the sh'eaves 10, 20, and beyond the said.

spacing rings the shaft 9 is suspended by hang-g ers 23, whose ends 24encircle the guide-b10019; bearings 81but with a capacity to turnthereon, The hangers 23 are adapted to havea slight oscillating movementandto this end are j ournaled at their upper extremities upon a cross.

shaft 25r'nounted within bearings'formed in the; ends of levers '26,which levers are fnl cruinedg upon a suitable-supportor trunnion 27, andare-provided with struts 28. a In practice, these.

' levers will generallybe formed of heavy steel;-

I-beams twenty inches deep and strutted to.

sustain with safety a load of forty to fifty'tonsi and the trunnionshaft 27 will generally be an, eightinc-h' shaft resting-in suitablebearings; as shown. Q -In Fig. 1, I have shown the levers 26 as; partlybroken away, in order to indicate that, the outer ends of the levers,beyond the trun-l nion shaft 27, are, in general, longer than the innerends from which the-idler pulley is suspended. These longer ends areprovided with: adjustable or removable weighting facilities, as, forinstance, the suspended weights 29, for. the purpose ofpartlycounterba-lancing the; idler pulley, if required, so that thelatter may not exert an undue strain upon the ro'peor; cable. It will beunderstood however, that the idler is not to be completelycounterbalanced, inasmuch as its weight is relied upon to be utilized tokeepth'e proper tensionu'pon the rope or cable. The fact that theidlersheaves are thus suspended or hung within the loops of the rope or cablefrom the driving pulley en- 'ables it to keep the rope taut at all timesand to act with equal effect upon each of the loops by reason of thecapacity for independent shifting possessed by the idlersheaves.

The rope or cable is indicated in Fig. 1 by the numeral 30. Afterpassing around the grooves of the idler and driving pulley'it is ledimmediatelyback for service onthe line, the usual""tension-run beingentirely dispensed with and superseded by the action of the suspendedidler. A suitable guide sheave as 31 may be used to give the desireddirection to the outgoingjportion of, the 'cable,as will be understood.

It is a characteristic merit of my invention that the slack, which hasheretofore not been {taken up untilafter 'it 'had passed over the drumand was on the 'way out again, is now compensated for atthe-m'omentof'its'occurrence by immediate actionon thepart of the idler, therebyavoiding the unpleasant jerk ingmotion of the cars incident to theformer system. I

In Fig. 3,1 have shown the partsofthe idler .pulley on a largerscale,seas to distinguish them clearly. V I

While Lprefer to mount the idler in such manner as to be suspendedto-move up and down as shown in Figs.'1'and-2,'I do not re-'strictmyself to that arrangementbutcontem- {plate broadly anyequivalent ineansfor'caus- :ing it to' move toward and from the driving@pulley. 7 Thus, in'Figs. 4 and 5 I haveillnstr'ated means for mountingthe idler to'move lhorizontally with respect to the-drivingpulley. Inthis construction, the idler f'pfulley iproper with its shaft'andindependently shiftable grooved sheaves is 'o f the' same cons truction"as that hereinbefore described. {It is 1 ounted withina yoke 33"adaptedto'slid'e in guide bearings 34:, and connected by a tension-rope 35,with" any suitable means for exe rting a yielding tension uponthei'dler, as, for instance, a hydraulic'cyli'nd'er.

In Fig. 4, I'hav'e shown two 1pai'rs ofdriving drums and 'idle'i's,operated by'aninte'n l mediate powerip'ulley 36,'and it will,of course,

be understood thatthe' invention is: involved in both pairs. Themechanism 1 is mounted securely upon a foundation 3 7 of masonry or thelike, suitably 'stre'ngthenedandanchored,

5 and a sunicie'nt' tension'is put upon the ten- 1 sion-ro'pe '85 toinsure the cable loops between the idler and driving'drum being kepttaut,

whileat the same'tinie not sufficient fto endanger the cable butpermitting" the idler 'to respond by backward and forward movements ofits sliding yoke be'a'rin'g 33 tothe varying e'mountdf slalck'to'b'ecompensated for.

It'will be apparent that broadly speaking the operation 'of the) form of"my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is thesame' as the oporation of theform shown in Figs. 1 and 2 jro but I prefer the latter, for the reasonthat it is more compact, takes up less ground space, and utilizes theweight of the idler itself to put the tension on the cable loops inwhich it is hung.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is V 1. In rope-driving machinery, the combinationwith the rope-driving pulley having a plurality of rope-receivinggrooves, of an idler having a corresponding number of rope-receivinggrooves, said idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley andreturning it thereto and being mounted to move backward and forward withrespect, to the driving pulley, the rope being distended between'thedriving pulley and idler to form a plurality of loops; whereby thevarying slack is taken up in the space between the driving pulley andidler and is distributed between the multiple loops of the rope;substantially as described.

2. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-drivingpulley having a plurality of rope-receiving grooves, of an idler havinga corresponding number of rope-receiving grooves, said idler receivingthe rope from the driving pulley and returning it there to and beingsuspended from the driving pulley within the multiple loops of the rope;substantially as described.

3. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-drivingpulley, of an idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley andreturning it thereto, said idler being suspended from the driving pulleythrough the intermediacy of the rope, and a counterbalance for in partrelieving the rope of the weight of the idler; substantially asdescribed.

4. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope drivingpulley, of an idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley andreturning it thereto, said idler being located immediately below thedriving pulley and suspended therefrom through the intermediacy of therope, guides within which the idler bearings are adapted to move, and acounterbalance lever connected to the idler; substantially as described.

5. In rope-driving machinery the combination with the rope drivingpulley, of an idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley andreturning it thereto, said idler being suspended from the driving pulleythrough the intermediacy of the rope, guides within which the idlerbearings are adapted to move, a counterbalance lever, and hangersconnecting said lever with the idler drum, said hangers being looselyconnected to both lever and drum so as to oscillate to the degreerequired by the movements of the idler; substantially as described.

6. In rope-driving machinery the combination with the rope-drivingpulley, of a co-opcrating idl'er consisting of aseries of groovedsheaves assembled upon acommon shaft, one of said sheaves being securedto the shaft and the remainder being mounted loosely thereon andindependently of each other; substantially as described.

7. In rope-driving machinery the combination with the rope-drivingpulley, of a co-opcrating idler provided with a series of groovedsheaves assembled together upon a common shaft and mounted looselythereon, and provided with an additional grooved sheave fixed to saidshaft, the hub of the fixed sheave being located to one side of the hubsof the loose sheaves; substantially as described.

8. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-drivingpulley, of a co-opcrating idler consisting of a series of groovedsheaves assembled upon a common shaft, one of said sheaves being fixedthereon, and the remainder being loosely mounted some upon the shaftdirect and some upon the hubs of the others substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK BUOHARD, WM. H. POWELL.

